Sometimes all you want is comfort food.  A food that your parents would make, sometimes at special occasions or at times that had wonderful memories.  Or a food that you had while camping as a youngster…that is when I remember this meal most.  Camping and being made in a crockpot.  Here is my twist on Vegan Swiss Steak.

So I hate camping.  Like a lot.  So much so, that I say staying at a Motel 6 or Super 8 is roughing it.  Nothing bad has ever happened to me while camping, but when you have tented it from Oregon to Tennessee that is a lot of dirt and driving.  And you know it was too much and scarred you, when it happened when you were 12 and now you are…ahem, well, anyway.

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My parents are on an extended vacation staying in a trailor along the way and I was thinking of the swiss steak and, even though I hate camping in tents or even nice trailors, I was wishing I could just see them for a little bit.  I actually had to text my mom to figure out what my mind remembered of this meal and what it was called.  Cans of tomatoes, steak beat thin and a few herbs.  Swiss steak. Right.  Nope, couldn’t remember that super simple name.

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So my take on this meal was done as a one-pot wonder, but actually done on the stove.  I added a ton of veggies to mine and didn’t think the crockpot would hold it all.  I cut up two bigger medium size zucchini, a smallish yellow onion, one green and two red peppers (yay for red peppers being cheaper in July!), and six long carrots.  I chopped all of these into long strips on the thinner side.  For the steak I used Gardein Beefless Tips-I dumped them onto the cutting board and cut them all in half or quartered them if they were a little bigger.

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I used a ton of Italian seasoning in this big pot.  I also really spiced it up with a whole teaspoon of red pepper flakes…the red pepper flakes plus the two teaspoons of black pepper really added heat, so if you don’t like it too hot reduce the red pepper flakes.  I didn’t think it would add that much since the pot was so big, but it did.  Still good, but spicy.

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I also used large shell noodles.  I mean this was more like a huge chunky pasta sauce looking meal so noodles sounded perfect.  My mom always served the swiss steak over rice or potatoes-mmmm, starch.  I had the noodles on hand, so that was how the shells got chosen.  This was a slow-cooking process; I kept the burner on low-medium the whole time.  I wanted the sauce to have a great flavor and all the dried herbs to come alive.  You could easily speed it up by turning it on high and tossing the veggies in at the same time as the tomatoes.  This made a lot of portions, so I had a great dinner, 5 lunch meals and 3 frozen for a later date.  Success!

Vegan Swiss Steak, 9 servings